NFL fumbles with laptop that had player data on it
The football season hasn't begun and training camp isn't even here yet. All we've seen so far is OTAs which just give a small glimpse of what to expect. But the NFL is never far from the news cycle, and now that news involves compromised data from a laptop.
The incident occurred back on April 19th, but the league is just now getting around to making this public. The laptop was stolen from a Washington Redskins trainer's car and contained personal data about players.
Mobile workforces put businesses at increased risk
A more and more mobile workforce is leaving US businesses vulnerable to increased risk of data breaches and theft of information.
This is highlighted in a survey of executives and small business owners by secure data destruction company Shred-It.
Lost your Android smartphone or iPhone? Google will help you find it
There are lots of services that help you find your lost smartphone, but nothing beats the convenience of a built-in tool like Android Device Manager or Find My iPhone. However, Google might have something that's even better.
Google believes that locating a smartphone should be as simple as a Google search, so the company has introduced a new feature in My Account that lets you do just that. And it works no matter if you have an Android smartphone or iPhone.
Cyber risk management -- Is your company ready for anything?
In late 2013, news of a massive data breach at Target surfaced. Hackers stole personal and credit card information of nearly 70 million shoppers, and the breach ended up costing Target $162 million and the resignation of the CEO and CIO. While this was one of the largest and most widely publicized data breaches, it’s by no means one of few.
Just recently, LinkedIn came clean about its 2012 data breach – a few days after it was discovered some of the information was being sold online. While LinkedIn originally reported the email and passwords for 6.5 million people were compromised, it just admitted the real number is as high as 117 million accounts. Though LinkedIn advised people to change their passwords when the attack was first made public, it wasn’t until four years later that the company decided to cancel passwords that were affected.
Five tips to avoid becoming a ransomware victim
Ransomware is one of the major threats computer users now face, even though recent reports suggest that many people don't actually know what it is.
Delivered via spam or phishing emails that trick users into clicking on malicious links, ransomware renders computer systems, devices or files inaccessible and holds the victim hostage until payment is made, usually in the form of bitcoins.
SWIFT attacks date back more than a year
We reported a few days ago on banks using the SWIFT inter-bank transfer system being hacked, resulting in $81 million being stolen from the Bangladesh Central Bank.
Now Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs, has released more information on other banks affected, with attacks that stretch back more than a year.
A Google search could have prevented a Somali terrorist from working security at Dulles airport
Airport security has been a big deal since the September 11, 2001 attacks that took down the World Trade Centers and damaged the Pentagon. But it's often criticized as being a facade of security and not real protection.
How bad is it? A recent investigation uncovered a Somali colonel working as a security guard at Dulles airport right outside the US capitol.
Newly-discovered zero-day vulnerability affects all versions of Windows
Security firm Trustwave has discovered a zero-day exploit for Windows for sale on an underground Russian hacking forum. A user going by the name BuggiCorp says the vulnerability affects all versions of Microsoft's operating system, from Windows XP and 2000 upwards, including both 32- and 64-bit versions.
The source code for the exploit is offered for upwards of $90,000, and the seller explains that it can be used to elevate the privileges of any software process to SYSTEM level -- the highest there is. Payment is requested in Bitcoin, but while the exploit is considered serious, experts suggest that the asking price is a little high.
Revealing the security habits of cyber criminals
Cyber crime is big business and that means the people behind it face many of the same challenges as legitimate organizations.
This includes operational security (OPSEC), a key tactic used by commercial and military organizations to protect privacy and anonymity. Research from cyber situational awareness specialist Digital Shadows reveals that criminals are using OPSEC as a means to an end -- avoiding detection, maintaining availability of their attack infrastructure, and retaining access to environments they have compromised.
Security vulnerabilities in top UK companies exposed
Cyber security affects all of us, but it only makes the headlines when it's big companies that are the target of attacks.
Threat intelligence provider Anomali has produced a new study focusing on vulnerabilities in businesses on the UK's FTSE 100 list of the largest companies. Among the findings are that over the last three months, 81 companies in the FTSE 100 had potentially malicious domain registrations against them, enabling cyber criminals to create dummy websites that can be used to trick users into supplying private data.
How to secure your open source code
It’s an open source world. Black Duck and Northbridge’s recent 2016 Future of Open Source Survey found that 78 percent of the over 1300 respondent companies said they run open source software. The number is likely much higher.
Black Duck finds open source software (OSS) in over 95 percent of the applications we analyze for clients. It’s easy to understand why. Open source adds needed functionality while lowering development costs and accelerating time to market. But securing and managing open source code still remains a challenge for many organizations.
Going out of business: An important, but forgotten security precaution
It takes a lot to launch a business in today’s competitive landscape. Unfortunately, not all find success and some end up shutting their doors for good. A company could be going through a merger or acquisition, as is the case with Office Depot, which is in the process of closing up to 400 locations following its 2013 merger with OfficeMax. Of course, there’s another reason -- a company could be facing mounting debts and a decline in sales. That’s what is happening to the once popular fashion retailer American Eagle, which has seen its net income take a huge dip from $400 million in 2008 to $80 million in 2015 and will be closing 150 locations by 2017.
Once any business makes the decision to shut down -- even if it only has one location -- there is one very important, but often forgotten, step that needs to be taken. Data needs to be permanently erased from every single piece of equipment and environment where corporate, customer and employee data are stored.
SWIFT hack affects 12 more banks
Earlier reports of a couple of banks using the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system being hacked are now paired with new reports saying that additional 12 banks using the same system might have fallen victim to the attack.
According to security researchers FireEye, which have been investigating the matter, "numerous" other banks have contacted them, including banks from the Philippines, and New Zealand. Even though the majority of these attacks were thwarted, approximately $81 million made it to the Philippines and ended up at casinos, where its trail is lost.
Research finds critical out-of-the-box vulnerabilities on big name laptops
When you buy a new PC it inevitably comes with a range of extra software -- bloatware if you will -- ranging from the maker's own updater tools to trials of antivirus and other products.
Trusted access provider Duo Security has carried out some research into how this extra software could be making users more vulnerable and invading their privacy.
Updated solution to improve control over enterprise data use
As organizations rely more and more on data, so keeping it secure and making sure it can only be accessed by the appropriate people becomes increasingly important.
To address this, identity and access management company SailPoint is launching an updated version of its SecurityIQ solution that provides an integrated and comprehensive approach to governing all data in the enterprise.
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